Closing-disk.



W. L. WRIGHT.

CLOSING DISK.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.2,1911.

LU36,'?69, Patented Aug. 27, 1912.

WQi/Mumao S TES PTEN T OFFICE.

WILIBUR L. WRIGHT, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR T0 AJAXMANUFACTURING GOMIANY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A CORPORATION OFMARYLAND.

CLOSING-DISK.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVILBUR L. WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Washington, District of Columbia, have in vented certain newand useful Improvements in Closing-Disks; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will The invention consists in certain novel features inconstruction and i-ncombinat-ion and arrangement as more fully andpart-1cm larly set forth hereinafter.

Referring to the accompanying drawings:Figure 1, is atop perspective ofa receptacle closing cap or disk embodying my invention. Fig. 2, is abottom perspective thereof. Fig. 3, is an edge view thereof partially insection. Fig.4, is a section on an enlarged scale. Fig. 5, is aperspectlve view showing the handle severed and in position to be driventhrough the diskinto engagement with an anvil that will turn up thepointed ends of the spurs into hook form so that when the cap makingmachinery then swings the handle down to lie fiat on the stock saidturned up ends will also move to aposition fiat against the under faceof said stock. Fig. 6, shows a length of flat wlre and illustrates howthe handles are cut therefrom. Figs. 7 and 8, are detail views ofmodifications.

In the drawings, I show a flat comparativelystifi' resilient disk 1,usually cut from pulp board, stifl' paper material, or the like, orother suitable material, and usually known commercially as a cap formilk or other bottles or jars. ,These caps are usually .employed toclose receptacles having an internal annular sealing seat onto which thecap is snapped or sprung under an annular contraction. As the caps arefirmly held to such seats, it is awkward and diflicult to remove thecaps without the aid of a suitable Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 2, 1911.

Patented Aug. 2'7, 1912. Serial No. 642,008.

implement, and even then portions of the contents of the receptacles areoften spattered and spilled in theoperation of removlng the caps.Experiencehas demonstrated the necesslty of providin such caps withhandles or pull tabs for t e easy and sanitary removal thereof, andvarious means have been proposed for providing such handles, but allsuch means are subject to various objections and disadvantages.

My invention has for its object-to provide an exceedingly simple,durable and efiicient handle or pull tab for such devices to overcomethe defects of prior devices, and more particularly to provide certainimprove-' ments in the cap of my Patent N 0. 959,095 issued to me on May24, 1910.

According. to my present, invention, the pull tab or handle 2, iscomposed of a single comparatively short strand or length of what isknown on the market as fiat wire. For instance, I usually employ tinnedor coated flat wire of commerce about three sixteenths of an inch wideand about nine one thousandths of an inch in thickness and of a suitabletemper, although I do not wish to so limit my invention. This wire isusually supplied to the trade in suit-able lengths wound on reels.

By the provision of suitable cap making and handle forming and applyingmachinery, the wire is fed from such reels and severed into peculiarlyformed suitable lengths to form handles, and such lengths are driventhrough the cap or disk stock and properly applied thereto with the freeends of the wlre lengths flattened out to form handles or pull tabsresting on and parallel with the top faces of the disks or disk stock. Ihave found it to be convenient to sever the wire into lengths of aboutthree quarters of an inch so formed as to readily puncture the diskstock.

Inthe preferred form of my invention, the wire is severed to form thehandles, without waste of material. I accomplish this result bytransversely severing the wire by a V or U-shaped cut, each cut thusforming the rounded free or inner end of one handle and the bifurcatedor puncturing end of the next handle. Each handle blank is thus formedrounded and slightly tapering at one end and correspondingly bifurcatedat the opposite end, the legs of the bifurcation forming the twolongitudinal separated parallel sharp puncturing ends 20, 20, havingtheir inner longitudinal edges diverging toward the sharp or pointedextremities of the ends]; The puncturing ends 20, are driven completelythrough the disk stock so that a substantial length thereof extendssmooth and without projections.

The transverse edge 22, of the blank or wire length between the ends 20,can serve to limit the movement of the wire through the disk stockduring the puncturing operation, and the inclined or diverging innerlongitudinal edges of said ends 20, cause the pointed extremities todiverge or spread apart in passing through the stock and when flattenedout beneath the portion of the stock under the handle on the top face ofthe disk. In the completed disk, the handle is fastened at its outer endin the edge portion of the disk, and the handle is radially arranged onthe top face of the disk with its free end extending toward the centerthereof.

In view of the exceedingly thin, smooth and slippery nature of the flatwire handle it is desirable to so form the same as to enable the fingerstograsp and hold the handle while exerting the necessary pull thereon torelease the cap from the receptacle mouth. It is also advisable to.reduce to the minimum, the projection of the handle above the cap whenresting thereon. To'ac-' complish these desirable results, I form avertical perforation, such as 23, through the inneror free end portionof the cap, and.

usually locate this perforation midway between the side edges of thehandle and adj acent to the tapered rounded extremity thereof. Theperforation is usually punched downwardly through the handle so that theslight bur formed by the punching operation will be at the under face ofthe handle. This perforation in the very thin material of the handleenables the fingers to maintain a most firm and efiicient grip onthehandle in exerting the necessary pull to release the cap and the bur isan aid in pre venting the fingers from slipping from the handle althoughnot essential. A

The handles are composed ofstifi metal preferably flat tempered wire forthe purpose of enabling the cap making machinery to drive the two endspurs of each wire length through the cap stock, and yet this wire is ofsuch nature as to permit said machinery to turn-up or double back theends of the s urs without causing the spurs to break 0 By employinghandles made of this stifl wire and by causing the spurs to merely liefiat against the under-surface of the cap stock, instead of clenchingthem upwardly into 'such stock (see Figs. 2-, 3, and 4) I am enabled toproduce handles that will bodily rock or swing to vertical positionwithout flexing or bending at the angle where the handle turns down inassing through the stock and without causlng the spurs to press upwardlythrough the cap. When one of my handles is thus bodily swung to verticalposition the spurs to a slight extent slip down through the cap and thebent ends of the spurs move down from the under face of the cap andassume a ver -v tical position with their points bearing up,

against the under surface of the cap, as

shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3. As the".

handle swings to upright 'position, the

points of the spurs bear or fulcrum against the under face of the capand virtually form the fulcrum on which the handle bodily swings orrocks as a whole. The upward extracting pullof the handle on the cap isthen exerted on the under surfabe of the cap through the medium of thespur points.v

position, the spur points move to a sllghtly I different position on theunder surfabe of the cap from that occupied by them when originallyflattened outso that the upward extracting pull of the handle on the capis applied through the spur points engaging a fresh or unbroken ortionof the under surface of the cap. urin the operation of swinging thehandle bodi to upright or extracting position, the handl or slide downthrough the cap, as the spur points fulcrum on the under edge thereof,if means were not provided to limit such longitudinal movement of thehandle.- For instance, the arch or transverse portion 22,

e might "dropbetween the two spursforms a shoulder or stop to engage theunbroken portion of the top surface of the cap between the two incisionsformed by the spurs, and limit longitudinal movement of the handlethrough the cap. The diverging points of the spurs of thehandle engagingthe' under surface of the cap in connection with the shoulder orabutment 22, of the handle at the top surface of the cap, maintain thehandle against such objectionable rocking movement or looseness as wouldrender the device inefiicient, and furthermore this bifurcated endformation of the handle tends to guide and maintain thehandle in properposition and against lateral deflection when being swung down'to assumethe desiredradial position on the cap stock, in the process ofmanufacturing the caps.

As the caps are smooth and without projections on their under faces andthe bandles are so thin and flat as not to form objectionableprojections on the top faces of the caps, these disks or caps of myinvention can be successfully used in capping machines wherein the capsare fed laterally from piles of caps in magazines or tubes, and insertedin bottles or the like by plungers. For the same reasons, these diskscan also be readily paraflined or otherwise waterproofed withoutinterference by the handles. The cap or disk is attractive and neat inappearance and is sanitary by reason of the non-absorbent material ofthe handle.

The disk can be economically and rapidly manufactured in largequantitles by suitable machinery without handle stock waste. If sodesired, the handle blank can be formed with a single puncturing point25, as shown by Fig. 7, or if'so deslred can be formed with more thantwo puncturing points 26 as shown by Fig. 8, and as appears in saidFigs. 7 and 8, the free end of the handle can be formed otherwise thanappears in my preferred embodiment.

The stiff or tempered wire length handle formation of Fig. 7 is formedwith shoulders or abutments at the base of the point or spur 25, to bearagainst the top face of the cap and perform the functions of the arch ortransverse portion 22, of the preferred form. i

What I claim is l. A closure having a bodil -swingable pull handle freeat one end an secured at the other end and composed of a length of fiatwire resting on and parallel with the top face of the closure, one endof the wire length having a spur extending through the closure andresting fiat on the under face of the closure, said wire length havingan edge portion forming astop at the top face of the closure limitingmovement of the wire length down through the closure, said wire lengthbeing free to bodily rock with its spur to upright position, and exertupward extracting strain on the closure through the upwardly directedpoint of the spur engaging the under face of the closure, the flat facesof the free end of the handle forming a finger hold, the end edges ofthe secured and the free ends of the wire length being of substantiallythe same transverse conformation, whereby said handles can beeconomically cut from a continuous length of flat wire having parallelfaces and edges.

2. A closure having a pull handle secured -,at one end and free at theother-end to swing to 11 right extracting position, said handleconslsting of a length of flat wire flattened out on and arallel withthe top face of the closure an at one end having ta ered spaced spursand an intervening stopormmg edge, said spurs being driven through theclosure, spread laterally, and resting apside thereof to rock verticallywith said handle when swung bodily to extracting position, theintervening edge of the wire length between said spurs being arranged atthe top face of the closure to limit downward movement of said handlethrough the closure.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

WILBUR L. WRIGHT.

Witnesses:

F. F. STEVENS, N. M. BELL.

